This week we are back from Easter break and in the depths of standardized testing, so it has become an opportunity for me to start the daunting task of cleaning out my classroom for retirement. I’ve been looking through old files and deciding what to keep and what to trash. Most of it is trash, but I look at it anyway. There are some things that are hard to throw away. It’s hitting me hard, I must say. So for two of the poem prompts at Ethical ELA, I wrote about this process. Writing is the way I can let go of some of the pent up feelings. (I don’t want to show them to my students.)
Larin Wade gave the prompt on Wednesday. Ironically she is a first year teacher. She asked us to write about seasons using the etheree form (consists of ten lines of increasing syllable count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 10)
Time
reflects
a long life
of commitment
not only to teach
but to nurture children
hold them with loving kindness
allow a safe space for growing.
Retire is a bold, yet daunting word.
One door closes. Will another open?
On Friday, Ashley challenged us with double dactyls. To see the rules (guidelines) for this poem, go to her post here.
Higgledy-piggledy
Filefuls of gibberish
Fill up her trash bin with
Piles of old news
Secretly covering
Years of her mothering
Spilling soft mutterings
long overdue.
And now back to the task at hand. Happy Friday! Four Fridays to go!
Reflections on the Teche 
love your retirement poem. I didn’t have time to think about retirement as it came suddenly with Covid. But if I had, I would have wanted to write such a poem about my kiddos. You can really tell how much you love teaching.
For the most part, I am happy about it. But this week reality seeped in and made me reflective and sad.
Margaret, I love your emotion and honesty in these poems. Writing has always been therapeutic for me, too. Thank you for the reminder. I need to write away some pent-up feelings. I’m sure you will be missed by many students and colleagues. I’m sure you will have many doors open up to you. Have a great weekend.
Thanks. I’m sure there will be doors opening. I am looking forward to more time with my grandchildren. Retirement is bittersweet.
Your double dactyl is one of my all-time favorite dds. Your collage has a certain je ne sais quoi too. Sending a big hug!
Best wishes on your retirement, Margaret. May many doors open for you.
Margaret, great retirement poems. I love the way poetry helps us to let go of some feelings, so our students / family don’t have to be adversely affected. I love “Retire is a bold, yet daunting word.” Perfect descriptors. And yes, the answer to your door question is yes. Your double dactyl is one of the best I’ve seen today. I like how you tell it third person about your cleaning up. “Years of her mothering” is beautiful.
Thanks for your comment, Denise. I know I look forward to more time for writing, but I worry that my inspiration for doing so without students may fade.
Just to reassure you, retirement is a new door, and there’s lots of stuff behind it! Loved teaching, as I can see you most certainly do. But you can still be out there teaching and learning. The learning is great!
I loved your poems…both…so much. I still have stuff from teaching. Mostly books I’d bought to put on my classroom shelves. I saved them for grandkids when they visited. Now they are too old for them, so I think I’ll make a trip to the school or town library. It’s time to let them be used again!
Thanks, Donna. I am having trouble deciding which books to leave and which to bring home. So many books…
I can imagine that the sorting and sifting brings up a lot of memories and feelings. Your poems capture so much of you and of that process. Knowing you, I am confident that more than one door will open for you as you enter retirement–Or that you will create them yourself.
I will be writing about all the memories from the sorting. This week, with testing and a free day because of weather, I dug in and put a number of things in the trash. It’s tough deciding what I want to keep. Yesterday when the custodian emptied my trashcan I almost cried. Thanks for understanding.
Wow! That etheree is a perfect form for showing the passage of time…that building up. Well done. You make poem-ing seem easy with these. I agree. Poetry is such a positive way of handling emotion into a safe place. So much of teaching is mothering, isn’t it? I’m glad you put that into your poem.
Love both poems, describing a bittersweet time so well. Sorting through stuff is always hard; part of us feels if we throw out physical objects we’ve held onto for so long, it’s like throwing away part of ourselves and the memories we’ve cherished. But, like the image of your collage, at least now it’s much easier to take digital photos of objects, which is a form of saving them anyway.
You get it. Now that everything is at our fingertips on the internet we don’t need all those file folders of lessons. But I still want to look at everything before tossing it.
Margaret, both of your poems are relatable. I’m sure after an entire career of teaching, the weeding out process is daunting. I save far too much and have started weeding out again for my files are full – still. I’m sure another door will open for you – as you have so much to give – your caring nature, gentleness, experience, and knowledge will lead you down a new path. Best wishes as you end your teaching time.
Higgledy piggledy!
You’re on the brink.
Leaving the classroom’s
more tough than you’d think.
Those files are the work of
your heart over time.
Take photos to document
the lives you have primed.
Feeling along with you, Margaret, and remembering how hard it was to leave it. I hope you didn’t trash that artwork–I LOVE it.
Wow! A double dactyl response! Thanks for this. It is much harder than you’d think. I saved the art. There are so many memories. Thanks for your understanding.
You and Molly (and now Heidi!) with the double dactyls! I’m cracking up. And I’m feeling your pain. Leaving teaching is a kind of death of a big part of who you are. I get it. It’s hard. (But retirement is SO worth it!!)
SO many doors will open, Margaret! And I’m still happy to Zoom if you like. Mid-May, maybe? (Or once your school year ends.) No pressure, though! Love your poems!
You are so kind to offer. I’d like to wait until school is out. Only four weeks left. Thanks!
What beautiful reflections! Thank you for your years of service!